The 2026 winners

The winner of the Indie Italian Book Jacket Award 2026 is Isabella Dalla Vecchia (Italy), with the book “Gatti tutta la vita” (Cats All Life Long).

The Jury awarded the prize to the book cover citing the following motivation: “a simple composition centered on effective and soft lettering, it interprets a very ‘catchy’ theme with charm, a strong visual mark, and a carefully chosen color palette.”

Isabella Dalla Vecchia is an independent researcher and cultural communicator focusing on historical mysteries, ancient symbolism, and enigmatic places. She founded the website www.luoghimisteriosi.it one of the first platforms in Italy dedicated to enigmas and mysteries. She has collaborated with the Italia 1 program “Mistero” and has appeared in several national TV shows, including “Linea Verde Orizzonti” (RAI 1), “Si Viaggiare” (RAI 2), “Freedom” (Italia 1), “Extremamente” by Studio Aperto (Italia 1), and “Città Misteriose” (Focus TV). She has also been interviewed on several national radio stations (Radio Deejay, Rai Radio 2, Radio Mediaset, Radio Kiss Kiss, Radio Capital) and has collaborated with nationally distributed magazines (Mistero Magazine, Fenix, Hera, Italia Misteriosa, Misteri d’Italia). She presented the preview of “King Arthur il potere della spada” by Guy Ritchie (Warner Bros) in Rome. Having an artistic background, she is also the designer of her own book graphics.

The winner of the Indie Authors Children and YA Book Jacket Award 2026 is Tiago Galo (Portugal), with the book “Eu não sei” (I Don’t Know).

The Jury awarded the prize to the book cover with the following motivation: “fresh and immediate, with a strong and gestural mark, in the color palette, and in the empathetic strength of the composition, both classic and effective.”

Tiago Galo (b. 1980 Lisbon, Portugal) began his career in independent comics before expanding into illustration and visual art. His work has appeared in magazines, books, and exhibitions across different countries, often marked by a playful approach to form and narrative. Living and working in Lisbon, he continues to explore the intersection between the ordinary and the absurd in everyday life.